Make Your Journey A Good One

A few weeks ago I was driving down one of the main streets in my town and the marquee outside one of the carpet stores donned the quote “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one”. Considering New Year’s had just come in, I knew those words were meant to remind those who were wiping their slates clean to moving cautiously forward with their resolutions, having 365-days to do so.

Pic Courtesy of M. Kinnel

After a week of driving past this same sign, I really thought how as writers, we basically live by a similar code each time we sit down to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Granted, we don’t all write books. Sometimes it’s a poem, short story, a blog post, a non-fiction piece—well, you get the drift.

In essence, when a writer sets out to start a project, they are starting with a blank page, a fresh start. And it’s so invigorating when the creative words spill upon that blank page that it can make one giddy. To be able to bring our inner voices to life on paper is almost like some sort of validation our characters and their worlds are real. They are not just some imaginary friends we talk to on a daily basis.

Now, not everything that spills upon that page will be seen by the eyes of the world. I know personally I have a dozen or more pieces secreted away that will never see the light of day because they are just not that great. But I have to admit that those not-so-great pieces needed to be written in order for me, as a writer, to move on. Almost like a brain-purge. They are part of my writing journey.

Think about it, a basketball player may spend hours in her backyard practicing her jump shot on her homemade hoop. Chances are, no one will ever see her hitting or missing those shots but none of that matters. The efforts matter and are part of that player’s passage to becoming the best player she can become.

So, yes, every time writers pull up a blank page to begin a project, we are doing so with the intentions of writing the best whatever we can write and bringing those stories to life. And even if no one ever sees them, you can chalk it up as part of the path you are taking to become a better writer; whatever that means to you, just make sure your journey is a good one.

“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.” ~ Brad Paisley

Why is that blank page so daunting? I can have good ideas– in my head. But getting them out and on paper is hard and seems to diminish their greatness. But of course, that is the work of writing, to get give them a little spit n’ polish.

That sign is how I see the new year too. I need to see the blank page that way and am glad you wrote that perspective. :)

Brain purge is so true. We have so much going on in our heads that a brain purge is so necessary. Even if what we’re purging isn’t our best work, it’s still work that needs to be let out to breathe. And as you said, for us to move on.